Crutch Character: Difference between revisions

 

 

* Prince Rurik of ''[[Guild Wars]]'' escorts the party of PCs and, if so desired, NPC henchmen on a number of missions. Given that he's level 10 and never changes that, he's quite useful when your character is level three and, well, peters off after that. {{spoiler|Then, quite naturally, he bites the dust. Who didn't see that one coming?}}

** Heroes, introduced in ''Nightfall'' and further in ''Eye of the North'', act as customisable henchmen and veritable Crutch Characters. Each hero fills out a single party slot, but have access to any skills that your ''account'', rather than character, has unlocked. For Elonan characters (characters that start in the ''Nightfall'' campaign), ''Nightfall'' heroes are generally introduced at comparative levels to yours, but ''Eye of the North'' heroes are all max level, and you can get them at a level as low as 10 (half the level [[Cap]]). Heroes are useful throughout the Prophecies campaign, as the henchmen available to you only hit the level cap near enough three-fourths of the way through the game.

* The pen and paper RPG ''[[Mekton Zeta]]'' has options for Rookie and Veteran characters. Veteran characters start with higher skills, but gain experience half as fast as Rookies. The Game Master's section even includes helpful advice on how Veterans tend to die or retire halfway through a series to let the younger protagonists take the lead...

* Not so rare; [[Dungeons & Dragons]] had a similar addition of this type of character. Often called an 'Advanced NPC' by 2nd Edition rules or in more modern terms 'The Over Powered NPC' -- a DM can run a pre-generated character who starts at least 3 levels or more higher then the party of players, has high level spells, equipment, abilities, skills, psychic powers, etc, and often leaves either early on, dies off fast, or only helps to a point.

 

== Third-Person Shooter ==